'Coloured' teacher who called himself 'African' still in the dark after race row

Teacher Glen Snyman says there is a historical irony in the fact that he works down the road from the Cango Caves, a prehistoric home for our human ancestors.

Snyman couldn't be more at home than in the Klein Karoo, yet he was almost fired for identifying as "African" - not "coloured" - when applying for a teaching post.

Four months later, the farm school teacher remains in the dark about his formal identity, since the Western Cape education department has neither admitted wrongdoing nor clarified his classification.

The 42-year-old broke his silence this week about being summoned to a disciplinary hearing - cancelled half an hour before the scheduled start on October 14 - for daring to tick the "wrong" race category.

The department initially defended its decision, claiming Snyman had initially identified as "coloured" when first employed and had no right to alter his status.

"There was just fear," said Snyman. "I was facing the fear of losing my house and my job and car. It was traumatic. Both my mother and father were very heartbroken - they are almost 80 years old and were sick through all of this episode."

Snyman said his ordeal was all the more bizarre because it coincided with the publication of his first novel, The Blind Man's Race, about someone forced to challenge their race identity in court. It draws from Snyman's work as a race-classification activist; he is the founder of People Against Race Classification (Parc) and has campaigned for the dropping of the government's race-based affirmative action policy.

His aborted disciplinary hearing made international headlines and sparked fierce criticism, including from Western Cape education MEC Debbie Schäfer, who condemned the disciplinary charge. Snyman also received a letter from department head Brian Schreuder that said: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

I was facing the fear of losing my house and my job and car

—  Glen Snyman, teacher and founder of Parc

The EFF and the South African Human Rights Commission also condemned the charge, and Jonavon Rustin, Western Cape secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, said Snyman's case highlighted the need for a national debate around race classification and employment equity.

Meanwhile, Snyman has become something of a celebrity in Oudtshoorn, where he regularly features on radio and in the local press. "Every day I bump into people who congratulate me, black and white people, from all walks of life," he said.

"Some people here feel the name 'coloured' can bring some benefit. Others don't want to be regarded as black or white. And others feel the same way I do."

When he's not teaching, Snyman spends time gardening, playing chess, computer programming and reading.

As founder of Parc, his stance has earned him attention from across the political spectrum, evidenced by snapshots of him with a range of political luminaries, including DA chair Helen Zille and Western Cape premier Alan Winde.

He hopes his self-published book will further the debate around race issues.

"In a gripping climax a blind man takes the stand," says the synopsis. "As he is unable to see, the colour of a person's skin is not relevant in his world. This man, rightly, experiences his fellow South Africans based solely on their inner qualities.

"Will the judge rule in favour of a system that perpetuates the country's inequalities? Or will he rule to bring the edifice down, so that South Africans might move forward together into the just and equal future they all deserve?"

Western Cape education department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said a legal opinion had been requested "on the application of national employment equity legislation to our policies, especially given that the legislation does not provide definitions of 'African', 'coloured' etc".